Piano action



July 30, 1957 K. E. HASELTON PIANO ACTION Filed Jan. 15, 1956 INVENTOR. f wmvw Heliu United States Patent Ofilice 2,800,827 Patented July 30, 1957 PIANO ACTION Kenneth E. Haselton, Athol, Mass, assignor to The N. D.

Class gompany, Athol, Mass, a corporation of Massac use s Application January 13, 1956, Serial No. 558,913 7 Claims. (Cl. 84-404) This invention relates to a new and improved piano action, and the principal object of the invention resides in the PI'OVlSlOIl of an inexpensive piano action which is particularly, adapted to toy pianos as well as to other more complicated percussion instruments, and in the provision of a novel combined lifter and striker member which is molded of commercial plastic material and is much quieter in its action in striking the tone rod under direct influence of its respective piano key.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a single unit molded plastic combined striker and lifter member for the piano action, said member being in the form of a hook having a reversely directed or hooked upper lifting end and a vertically depending lower striker end, both of which are enlarged, said member being pivoted intermediate its length and being'balanced in such a way as to maintain a generally upright position wherein the enlarged lifting end of the member comes to rest on the respective piano key in inactive position of the latter, with the striking end in spaced relation from its respective tone rod for actuation thereof by the piano key, the striking end immediately being urged toward the tone rod to strike the same, making the sound desired quickly and positively.

Further objects of the invention reside in the provision of an improved quieter and better sounding piano action than those of the prior art.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a view in elevation of the new lifting and striking member showing sufficient associated parts of the piano action to explain the invention, parts being in section;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation, looking in the direction of arrow 2, with parts omitted and broken away for clarity of illustration; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing the upper end of the lifting member, looking in the direction of arrow 3 in Fig. l.

In the drawings, the reference numeral indicates a conventional key which may be mounted in any way but is shown pivoted on a rod 12. The end of the key indicated at 14 is adapted to be struck by the fingers of the piano player in order to move the key in a clockwise direction from the support 16 which holds the key in the position shown in Fig. 1 in normally inoperative condition thereof. The key may be provided with a pad of felt or the like indicated at 18 at its inner, lifter-actuating end generally indicated at 20.

The sounding-board is arranged in a vertical manner as indicated at 22 and this board may extend the length of the action. The tone-bar is indicated at 24 and this also extends the length of the action although preferably in interruptedseries as well known in the prior art, and this tone-bar supports in a depending manner a series of tonerods 26.

A pivot-rod 27 is supported at each end of the piano action as by end blocks 28, and this rod pivotally supports thereon the unitary combined lifter and striker member illustrated in this application, it being understood that there are a series of these members, one for each key and each tone-rod, the keys being aligned with the combined striking and lifter member and the tone-rods being aligned therewith also.

Each of the combined lifter and striking members is molded from a, commercial plastic of suitable nature. Thisrmember is made generally in the form of a hook having an enlarged relatively heavy lifting end or head 30 at one end and an enlarged striking-member at its opposite end at 32. The axis of the member is intermediate these enlarged terminal elements in the rod 27.

The striking member 32 is provided with an elongated generally vertical support 34 which extends to the pivot axis. This member is. comparatively narrow and light in weight but the head 32. provides suflicient weight to carry out a firm, clear, striking action as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 relative to the corresponding tone-rod 26.

The lifter head. 30 is closer to the axis of pivot rod 27 and between this axis and head30, the member is extended upwardly and reversely directed as indicated by the elongated reversely-directed member 36 which is in the form of a. hook, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

This construction disposes: the lifter head 30- directly over the pad 18.and provides'for clearance of the key, and a considerable length. of motion of the striking end 32 upon a relatively short motion of the lifter head end 30 under influence of the key 10. Also, the parts above the axis are slightly heavier than the weight of the parts therebelow, to the end that the lifter head end 30 comes to rest lightly on the pad 18 as shown in solid lines in Fig. 1 in inoperative condition of the device.

It will be seen that a slight motion of the key 10 causes the striking action as described above, which action is smooth, positive and firm, but is silent due to the plastic nature of the device. There are no metal parts between the key and the tone-rods except for the rod 27 which is fixed and does not move. The motion of the lifter and striking member starts instantaneously with the initiation of the motion of the key, and the tone sounds upon the end of the key action due to the striking end 32 coming in contact with and being stopped by its corresponding tone-rod. The lifting end of the device, in combination with the effect produced by the fact that the weight of the striking head end 32 is to the right of the axis thereof as seen in Fig. l, ensures the members being brought back in a counter-clockwise direction to the original inactive position shown in Fig. 1.

Each combined lifter and striking member has a more or less central hub indicated at 40, which hubs lightly contact each other as shown in Fig. 2, so that the members are restrained against any tendency to sidewise motion on rod 27. The enlarged ends 30 and 32, however, terminate lightly short of the adjacent corresponding members so as to provide against any interference therebetween.

It will be seen that this invention provides a very positive piano action which is firm and unfailing in the operation thereof and which is completely silent and easy to operate. At the same time, the action is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A piano action comprising. a tone bar, tone rods thereon suspended therefrom, keys, and a striker for each rod, each striker comprising a pivoted hook-shaped member having a depending striking shank end and an upright lifter hooked end, the latter extending forwardly and being disposed over its respective key, the striking end of each striker being located adjacent a respective tone rod and hanging substantially freely to be moved to strike its tone rod upon actuation of its key.

2. A piano action comprising a tone bar, tone rods thereon suspended therefrom, keys, and a striker for each rod, each striker comprising a pivoted hook-shaped member having a depending striking shank end and an upright lifter hooked end, the latter extending forwardly and being disposed over its respective key and substantially contacting the key in idle freely-suspended condition, with the striking end of the striker member disposed adjacent its corresponding tone rod in position to strike the latter upon actuation of the respective key.

3. A piano action comprising a tone bar, tone rods thereon suspended therefrom, keys, and a striker for each rod, each striker comprising a pivoted hook-shaped member having a depending striking end and an upright lifter end, the latter extending forwardly and being disposed over its respective key to hang down over the same, with the striking end freely hanging in closely spaced relation to its tone rod and in position to strike the same upon actuation of the respective key.

4. The piano action of claim 3 wherein the striking end is enlarged.

5. The piano action of claim 3 wherein the lifter end is enlarged and heavier than the striking end of the member.

6. A piano action comprising a tone bar, tone rods thereon suspended therefrom, keys, and a striker for each rod, each striker comprising a pivoted hook-shaped member having a depending striking end and an upright lifter end, the latter extending forwardly and being disposed over its respective key, the axis of the hook-shaped striker member being intermediate the striking and lifting ends, the latter being above the axis and the striking end below the axis in alignment with its respective tone rod and close enough to strike the tone rod upon actuation of the respective key.

7. A piano action comprising a tone bar, tone rods thereon suspended therefrom, keys, and a striker for each rod, each striker comprising a pivoted hook-shaped member having a depending striking end and an upright lifter end, the latter extending forwardly and being disposed over its respective key, the axis of the hookshaped striker member being intermediate the striking and lifting ends, the latter being above the axis and the striking end below the axis, and the portion of the hookshaped striking member above the axis being slightly heavier than the portion below the axis thereof, so that the lifter end lightly contacts the corresponding key, the

striking end of each striker being located adjacent a respective tone rod and hanging substantially freely to be moved to strike its tone rod upon actuation of its key.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 161,017 Goetz Nov. 28, 1950 11,151,790 Jacobs Aug. 31, 1915 1,444,722 Bartholomae Feb. 6, 1923 2,119,598 Morse June 7, 1938 2,474,462 Brewer June 28, 1949 2,715,850 Murdock Aug. 23, 1955 

